“What the hell is a demonic collaborator?” Regis asked aloud absent-mindedly.

“He was,” the priest from before spoke up as he stepped closer to the frozen corpse. “You must have seen those markings appearing on Zareef’s neck before he perished.”

“Yeah,” Valerie shuddered at the memory of the all too recent event. “That was a slave mark. I’ve seen it before in one of our family’s tomes.”

“What are you trying to say?” Elder Jonah looked at them, still shaken by the gruesome turn of events.

“They’re trying to say that Zareef was a demon’s pet,” Osmond sighed as he circled around the icy spikes. “No wonder he was so adamant on stopping us from staying here to help.”

“Hold on,” captain Hyord raised his voice. “If Zareef was a servant of the demons, then…”

“He might have really been the one to harm the Landwaker tree.” Letty finished the guard captain’s thoughts.

“This is getting all too complicated for me. Conspiracy theories were never really my thing.” Khan sighed as he looked back at the still muttering crowd.

As the people were arguing over the what ifs of the situation, a cracking sound silenced them.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Valerie asked as her whip ensnared the mercenary archer’s leg just before he wanted to use his movement skill to flee.

“I… I don’t know anything, I sw…”

“Don’t,” Cruz slammed the tip of her staff into the ground beside the archer. “Just don’t. You wouldn’t have tried to flee if you didn’t know what was going on, so spill it!”

“They’re going to kill me if…”

“And we’re going to kill you if you don’t.” Khan stated in a flat tone, not giving the man a chance to weasel himself out of the situation.

“Quentin dear,” Valerie turned to the paladin. “Can you call upon that interrogation domain of yours?”

“It’s not an interrogation domain, but yes. I can call upon it if necessary.” He said with a somewhat indignant tone after hearing the strange name his class ability was given.

“In that case,” Regis looked down at the archer. “You can either speak on your own accord, or we can play the asking game again. It’s your choice.”

A flash of fear and shudder ran through the mercenary, likely due to him remembering the suffering that was brought upon him the last time.

“I… I’ll talk,” he stuttered hurriedly. “It happened before those scouts arrived from Hunor. The boss wanted to head over to the market square of the outer town to get food supplies and some wine. I went with him, covering him from the roofs in case some fallen would try to get closer. When we reached the merchants’ guild, he was ambushed by those things.”

Here the man’s gaze turned distant as his voice turned quiet and somewhat shaky.

“I tried to take down as many as I could, but they had spell casters of their own that attacked me. I had to flee, but I could still see Zareef being caught after taking down dozens of them with his magic. After I got back here I wanted to tell the others, but I didn’t know what to say and by the time I gathered my thoughts, he was back.”

“I remember that day,” Hyord muttered. “He told me that he went out to get some supplies for his magic spells and got attacked by low ranked demons and fallen.”

“That’s what he said to everyone,” the archer continued. “But when the day came to an end he dragged me away to talk to me. He made me swear that I’d shut up or he would kill me.”

“Well he’s dead now,” Fabien stabbed towards the ice sculpture with his left thumb, “So you can spill the beans.”

“He told me that after he got caught, he met with the demon that was the boss of the smaller ones. That thing offered him a deal that would have made Zareef the new lord of East Fork after the war was over. All he had to do was to keep the people weak and controllable, so that they could take over the town easier when the time comes.”

“What about the Landwaker and the outlanders?” Amanda asked the important question.

“Zareef said that the demon told him about the outlanders arriving soon and that we had to keep them weak and hated so that they couldn’t become an obstacle later on.”

“You,” the aged yet furious voice of elder Jonah made the mercenary flinch. “You bastards goaded the people of East Fork into harming innocent youngsters just for the sake of some damnable demon’s promise of wealth? Those youths were hanged and killed because of you!”

“They would have come back,” the archer tried to defend himself. “I was told that they were immortal and that killing them off would only halter them for a day or two.”

A moment later the whip around the mercenary’s leg flared up with flames that scorched his armour and flesh. Valerie practically growled as she looked down at the man with a furious disdain.

“And you think that made torturing and killing them alright? We might come back from the dead, but the pain is bloody fucking real. Every bruise, cut and stab we receive is as real as it is for you or anyone else. How do you think it feels like to die from getting burned to death, or getting hanged or stabbed? You fuckers don’t deserve…”

“Val,” her brother had to hold her back, trying to calm her with a reassuring hug. “It’s okay. We got them. Zareef is dead and this idiot can’t hurt anyone any more.”

“Well,” Khan cleared his throat as the flames of the whip died out. “That escalated real fucking quick.”

“She’s right,” Cruz scoffed. “People think that we’re some damn pests to get rid of, not giving a shit about whether we live or die.”

“I am ashamed to admit it,” elder Jonah let out a tired sigh. “But when the Landwaker got damaged and Zareef pointed at the outlanders, our people were far too quick to believe his words. They were angry and desperate, lashing out on the poor youngsters and I couldn’t stop them.”

“The blame lies with all of us,” Hyord patted the elderly man on the shoulder. “The guards should have handled things differently, instead of giving in to the people’s wrath. We could have simply imprisoned the outlanders instead of handing them over to the executioner.”

“It was Lord Northrend’s decision,” the leader of the priests interrupted their talks. “If his lordship had decided against it, then not even the people could do anything about it.”

“Perhaps,” Hyord nodded. “But you can’t push the blame on a dead man.”

“Okay,” Khan cleared his throat once again. “This is all well and cringey as fuck, but can we get to the important part? We’re done with the mission, the culprits are seized and I’m getting hungry.”

“True enough,” the dark elf couldn’t stop himself from letting out a strained chuckle. “We originally only came here to inform you about the north-eastern gate’s closing and to bring Letty away. I’m sure you can handle the rest. We should get going.”

“Going,” Hyord looked the spell weaver. “Where?”

“We managed to gain entry to the local spell casters’ guild,” Quentin answered to the question. “Also, sir Derris sends his regards to you elder Jonah.”

“Derris is alive?” The grey haired man’s face flashed with both surprise and relief.

“He was trapped in the guild by a fellow named Qadir, but he’s still alive and well. Since the guild is empty, we decided to stay there for the night.”

“I see,” the old man nodded. “I’m glad that he’s safe and well.”

“As for your mission,” Hyord raised his voice. “The people of East Fork thank you for your aid and you have my word that as soon as we re-take the town, you will be rewarded accordingly.”

“First you have to get the other gates closed, and get this whole mess cleared up as well.” Osmond noted while the others relaxed somewhat.

“Could… can I bring Mary with us?” Letty stepped forward as she gently pulled a young human woman along with her.”

“Who is she?” Her sister asked as she eyed up the woman.

“She was one of the outlanders who got lynched by the locals,” the wood elf answered. “After she came back, elder Jonah hid her away to keep her safe, but Zareef’s men found out about her while I was trying to heal the Landwaker.”

“I doubt that sir Derris would mind having one more outlander crashing at his place,” Khan said as he quickly stepped closer to introduce himself. “I’m Khan. Second tier bladedancer.”

“Hi.” Was all the young woman managed to say before captain Hyord turned their attention toward the important matters.

“Thanks to your and the other mercenaries’ hard work, all of the outer gates should be closed now. We’ll spend the rest of today preparing and tomorrow we began to clear East Fork of the fallen.”

“The sooner the better,” Valerie stated. “The fact that you had a collaborator amongst you doesn’t bode well.”

“That,” Hyord looked at Quentin. “If I might be so bold, sir Quentin. Could you question our soldiers?”

“You want to know if there are more like Zareef? I guess that’s necessary at this point. Gather your men then. The area of my domain isn’t large, but I can ask a question regarding all of them.”

“Thank you,” he nodded before turning his second in command. “Gather up everyone!”

“Yes captain!” The soldier saluted before hurrying away.

“We should get this bastard’s corpse out of here,” Cruz sighed as she looked at the steadily melting ice that covered Zareef. “It’s not good for the people to see things like this.”

Amanda stepped beside the half thawed body, grabbing it to drag it away like a sack of garbage.

“Is there any place I can drop him off?”

“Follow me.” Elder Jonah said as he led some of the outlanders towards the local temple’s backyard.

Regis went along with Amanda, mostly out of personal interests. Although Zareef was a demon’s pawn, the man was still a tier two spellcaster. He was bound to have a few good stuff in his possession, not to mention that he was curious if the corpse sacrificial ritual would still work on him. The backyard of the church was small, mostly a few old graves taking up its territory. There was a stone padded hole near the middle area where the elder led them.

“With so many dying recently, we’ve been using this old grave as a burning hole. You can lay his body here and the priests will take care of it once they managed to calm the people.”

“On the possibility of sounding like a bastard, I’ll have to search the corpse.” The dark elf said, earning a surprisingly calm nod from the old man.

“I understand. As distasteful as is might be, but in times like these, nothing shall go to waste. Do what you must, then join your companions. I shall leave now. Today’s events brought a lot things along that I must attend to.”

Regis just nodded as the elder turned around and left. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Amanda let out a sigh.

“He’s a surprisingly chill old man.”

“What else can he do? He’s likely both ashamed by the things he let happen and busy cleaning up the mess that we caused.”

“It wasn’t our fault that this bastard was such a...”

“You know the saying,” the spell weaver cleared his throat. “It’s rude to talk ill of the dead. Even if they were bastards or killers.”

He stepped closer to the corpse that almost completely thawed out, rummaging through its pockets and side satchel, taking the utmost care not to miss anything of use. Zareef proved to be quite the wealthy bastard. His satchel contained a pair of thick glass vials, a heavy leather pouch and a small leather journal beside the usual cutlery and ordinary stuff. The familiar bluish and red liquids in the vials made their contents somewhat obvious, but Regis still cast charlatan’s wisdom on them.

{Potion of minor healing}

{Item rarity: common}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Healing value: 25}

{Cooldown: 30 second}

{Potion of minor arcana restoration}

{Item rarity: common}

{Item quality: ordinary}

{Restoration value: 25}

{Cooldown: 30 second}

‘Not bad.’ Regis noted to himself as he put them into his own potion satchel before checking the contents of the leather pouch. It had dozens of silver coins in it, along with a few bronze ones, but there was no sign of any gold in there. The dark elf shrugged before stashing the money and the journal he decided to check out later.

Looking at the rest of the man’s belongings, his robe was as ordinary as it could get, with not a single rune on it. There were no rings or amulets on the man, his once fancy staff now broken and lifeless due to the soul bound effect. It was a bit of a let-down, but the material of the robe was decent enough and staff was made from iron, so he could at least recycle them for materials.

Zareef’s satchel was also finely made, so it too was taken without a second thought. Once Regis had everything he could make use of, Amanda let out a perturbed sigh and dropped de corpse into the hole. The dark elf pricked his finger and let his blood fall beside the carcass, initiating the corpse sacrifice ritual. He wanted to trade for a physique attribute orb and luckily for him,

Zareef’s remains were not only eligible for the ritual, but it also earned him more than what he asked for. A bright red orb floated above the dried out husk of the former spell caster, surrounded by a dozen small blue slivers. Both the orb and the sliver beckoned the dark elf’s call as they floated closer, only to be absorbed once his new and old pieces fused into three complete arcana shards.

“Now that we’re done desecrating the poor sod’s remains,” Amanda shuddered. “Can we get back to the others?”

“Sure,” the spell weaver bundled up his loot. “There’s plenty to do in the guild and we also need some rest after today’s fights.”

“And a bath,” the giant of a woman noted. “And some proper meal.”

The two of them walked back to the market square of the inner town, finding their companions pretty much besieged by the local refugee children that seemed to be far too interested in Khan’s boastful battle stories, or the infernal siblings’ horns and tails. It was a stark contrast to the previous night and the early part of the day when everyone stared at them with distrust and wariness.